Prof suspended over tweet won't return in 2013

LAWRENCE, Kan. 
The chancellor of the University of Kansas announced Thursday that a journalism professor suspended over a tweet that angrily targeted the National Rifle Association after the Navy Yard shootings will not return to his classroom in 2013.

Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little issued a press release stating that David Guth, who was placed on administrative leave Sept. 20, would not teach the rest of this semester but would be assigned to other duties. It also said he would take a planned sabbatical in the spring. Teaching assignments for the fall of 2014 are not yet set.

Guth posted the tweet after the September shootings killed 13 people in Washington, D.C. It said, "The blood is on the hands of the (hash)NRA. Next time, let it be YOUR sons and daughters. Shame on you. May God damn you."

Guth issued a statement Thursday evening apologizing for his tweet that "caused a great deal of pain for many people."

Guth said that he was a professional communicator but didn't do a good job of explaining his position.

"I also regret that my statements have had a negative impact on the university community," he wrote, adding he appreciated the support from family, friends and colleagues over the incident.

The university said the decision to keep Guth out of the classroom this semester was made by Provost Jeffery Vitter and approved by Gray-Little. It was based on the recommendation of a seven-member committee the chancellor assembled to determine whether Guth could return to teaching without disrupting the "learning environment," according to the university's press release.

Guth will be given nonclassroom assignments, including service and administrative duties, which will be completed away from the Lawrence campus as much as possible. The decision is effective Friday.

"The committee conducted a full review, and their input was instrumental in arriving at this decision," Gray-Little said. "Our decisions throughout this situation have been guided by the facts and the law, respecting the interests of our students and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship."

Several current and retired university faculty members have come to Guth's defense, saying that his suspension or removal from his tenured position over his comments would have a chilling effect. They maintained that freedom of expression should be "a core value of any university."

However, conservative legislators have called for the university to terminate Guth and have suggested they would vote against any university spending measure in 2014 if he remained on the faculty.